New Delhi, Nov. 5 -- Stacking Chips. Steve Jobs was a man of many talents, but manufacturing and supply chain management were not among them. He remedied that deficiency with the 1998 hiring of Tim Cook, who rationalized Apple's supply without sacrificing quality.

Jobs headed up innovation, and Cook made it all possible at mass-market scale, with prices people could afford, and a relatively fat gross profit margin. Apple's contract manufacturers like Hon Hai Precision Industry (aka Foxconn) bore most of the inventories and all the assembly plants on their balance sheets. Apple remained asset-light, and flexible when buying components.

But desperate times call for desperate measures and though the Tao of Cook remains, even Apple has had ...